On Tuesday, Former Apple Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson’s attorney released a statement that CEO Steve Jobs had told Anderson to backdate various stock options.
The statement followed the Security and Exchange Commission‘s announcement yesterday that it had reached a settlement with Anderson in the stock options backdating case. According to Macworld News, the SEC has also charged former Apple general counsel Nancy Heinen with fraudulently backdating stock options.
An internal audit within Apple discovered that while Jobs was aware of the backdating, he did not financially gain from the proceedings and was legally in the clear.
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On Tuesday, Former Apple Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson’s attorney released a statement that CEO Steve Jobs had told Anderson to backdate various stock options.
The statement followed the Security and Exchange Commission‘s announcement yesterday that it had reached a settlement with Anderson in the stock options backdating case. According to Macworld News, the SEC has also charged former Apple general counsel Nancy Heinen with fraudulently backdating stock options.
An internal audit within Apple discovered that while Jobs was aware of the backdating, he did not financially gain from the proceedings and was legally in the clear.
Per Anderson’s released statement, Anderson was told in late January of 2001 that Jobs had an agreement with the board of directors to grant stock options on January 2nd of that year. Anderson reportedly “cautioned” Jobs that the stock options would have to be based on the date of the board’s agreement or an accounting charge would occur. Anderson also stated that he told Jobs the board of directors would have to provide confirmation that it had given prior approval for the grant dates “in a legally satisfactory method.”
Anderson claims that Jobs provided assurance that the board had given approval, Anderson relying on Jobs’ statements and concluding that the grant was being properly handled. The statement then goes on to mention that Anderson understood that according to Apple’s stock option plan and accounting rules, a grant date could be moved along to a later date without related compensation expenses provided the stock price had increased from what it had been on the original date. Anderson’s statement also revealed that he understood that the stock grant date was moved from January 2nd to January 17th in order to bypass that year’s Macworld Expo, wherein Jobs described new products during his keynote speech on January 9th, thus working to “avoid any appearance of impropriety.”